Time out…..David’s Sick

December 19- December 26, 2016                                                                   Most Recent Posts:
Monday through Monday                                                        Fort King Kayak Trail, Rhesus Monkeys and More
Silver Springs State Park and Welborn Florida                              Hiking the Swamp Trail at Silver River

 

Most of the pictures in this post were taken on a 5 mile hike I took on the Winter Solstice, Wednesday December 21st, from the Silver Springs State Park Campground to the Glass Bottom Boat Head waters area.

 

 

David has been fighting off a cold since only a day after he left Disney World. Disney is not a safe place for a person with a compromised immune system especially when he’s not used to having to be vigilant about using hand sanitizing lotion or washing his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

He’s been increasingly tired since then and although he did take the Swamp Hike with me on Saturday, he declined both Silver River paddles  on Friday and Sunday which is very unlike him. He wasn’t incapacitated, just didn’t have a lot of energy and encouraged me to go on without him while he rested.

But by Monday he has a fever which means he’s for sure got something his weakened immune system can no longer deal with.

 

 

 

 

The fever starts out at 99 and moves within a few hours to 101. He starts taking tylenol. He can’t take aspirin due to other drugs he is taking. If his fever gets to 101.5 he has to go to the hospital. He goes to bed at 7pm and I start researching local hospitals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Tuesday he’s in bed all day long and I’m monitoring his fever. He sleeps all day getting up only to eat breakfast and then a meal between lunch and dinner. HIs fever bounces between 99 and 101.3. I’m thinking hospital. He wants to wait for the 101.5. His poor body battling Multiple Myeloma so valiently is working hard enough. Having an infection makes it fight a war on two fronts. Seems very unfair to me.  I try to be patient with his holding out for 101.5.  We know from experience that regular hospitals do not know how to deal with Multiple Myeloma patients.

 

 

 

After a rough and scary Tuesday with nearly 20 hours of sleep, his fever breaks in the morning on Wednesday and thankfully is down enough that he can go to the clinic for the two hour velcade shot appointment. 

Happily, it doesn’t get above 100 again. He’s resting and stable enough that I can leave him to go for a Solstice Hike over to the Spring Head while he naps. In the evening we watch Polar Express which he enjoys.  That he doesn’t fall a sleep during it is a sign that the worst has passed.   This hasn’t been my favorite Winter Solstice Celebration by far but I am grateful that he is out of danger and improving and that’s cause for celebration.

 

On Thursday I do 3 loads of laundry.  David is better but still taking it easy.  His cough has calmed down some and what now clearly appears to be a cold has shifted to his head.  This stuffy nose is giving him more trouble sleeping than his medications normally do.

Under normal circumstances, although he tries to be in bed for 10 or 11 hours, he seldom sleeps more than 2 or 3 hours in a row without waking.  It’s no wonder he needs to nap and a real wonder he’s not more tired all the time.  With such lack of sleep, how can his already stressed body fight this cold at all?  

This is our last day at Silver Spring and I’m thankful he is well enough to move tomorrow.  But I’m sorry he has been sick for so much of our stay here and hasn’t been able to paddle on the river at all.

On Friday we head down the River Trail to pick up the kayaks.  We pull them back,  David does fine.  We get loaded up and head out to Wellborn Florida where we will leave the rig while we fly to Maryland to spend the holiday with Carrie and her family.

On the way to Wellborn, which is 90 miles up I 75 from Silver Springs, the ABS light comes on in the rig.  This light business is beginning to feel like a recurring nightmare.  This “idiot light” as David calls it isn’t nearly as serious as the Oil Light so we drive on and figure when we get back, we’ll have to find a chevy truck place so they can use their special tool to scan the 4 brake sensors to see which one has the problem.   For full timers who don’t have a favorite mechanic in every town they visit, that means researching Chevy Truck dealers or shops to make sure they have the tool, can do the job and can get the part.  But that’s for later. 

 

We arrive at the home of Barry and Millie whom we met through RVillage and who have graciously volunteered to let us leave our rig on their property about 90 minutes from the Jacksonville Airport. 

I was unable to find any week long accomodations any closer that would allow us to leave the rig hooked to electricity while we were not in it.   When I appealed to a couple of groups I belong to on line, Barry answered and said we could leave Winnona with them.  This is a generous life saver for us.  Thank you SO much Barry and Millie.

 

Barry and Millie have a 43’ Winnebago Journey parked beside their house and hooked to a 50 amp outlet.  They have been RVing for years..   But when we hook up our coach to the 30 amp electricity Barry has in front of their house, our Progressive Industries protector gives us a reverse polarity error and will not connect.  Barry says no one else has ever had any problem but when David checks the box, it is for sure reversed.   We spend the night with no electricity.  It’s a balmy 44 when we wake up in the morning.  I think seriously about baking a cake in the oven to warm up the rig.

Barry and David spend the morning working on the electric problem.  They switch the wires in the box but that doesn’t solve it which means the problem is somewhere back up the line.  Barry calls a knowedgable friend who comes by around 2:00 and is able to fix it so it will work but tells Barry the wires are too small for what he’s trying to do.   I hope Winnona will be OK here but it’s too late now to find anywhere else.  So it’s take a chance or cancel our flight.

As long as the Progressive will not cut the current, we’ll be ok and not have to completely empty our refrigerator and give away or throw away all the food.  Everything is fine Saturday night and into Sunday morning.  We test the air conditioner since it will be in the 80’s while we are gone but it will also be raining so we can’t leave the windows open.  The AC works ok too.

 

On Christmas Day we talk with Carrie and our families on the phone and join our generous hosts for Christmas dinner.  This is our first Christmas dinner anywhere but together with Carrie.  The food is good, the company is fun.  Things seem to be working out.  I’ll try not to worry while we are gone.

I do wonder what you all do if you need to leave your rig for a week.  I’d love some advice for next time.

We leave tomorrow headed for BWI and a drop in day time highs of 35 degrees.  Brrrrrrrr!  Wish us luck!!